Died on the road

[kohldad]

A week ago while headed out of state carrying my TC and 2000# trailer, truck started acting up and within 10 miles went from running fine to basically dead. Only 138k, owned since 4 miles showed on the odometer, always maintained and never abused. Complete set of guages including boost, pyro, and fuel pressure. Truck is used to pull trailers and haul my TC, so kept happy.



Have 135 miles since last fill up which was only 25 gallons. Still have 1/2 tank fuel, but seems like I used a lot more fuel than I should have in the 135 since the tank is down to near 1/2 which shouldn't happen til 300 miles. Burn rate was constant, not sudden loss when it started acting up.



Lift pump (back of filter housing) is not the problem as I changed it out.



When trying to crank with the replacement pump, finally threw a P0341 code.



Finally had it hauled the 250 miles home by a friend.



All fluids are good without any signs of fuel or water in the oil.



Drained the filter housing into a coke bottle and let sit overnight. Did notice some a little trash in the fuel but no water. The trash could have been in the bottle before hand as I pulled it from the trash and didn't rinse (dumb mistake I know). Changed out the filter just as a precaution though only had 3,000 miles on it.



Because of the P0341, checked all of the wiring to the CMP (behind injector pump) and co-wired sensors. No shorts and all good circuits. Double checked to ensure 5v from the ECM after remaking all connections. CMP also showed 999 ohms. Still no joy.



Truck will barely idle, is extremely rough, and will not go above the idle. . Smoke is extremely thick (video of cranking truck.



I erased the codes after working on the CMP because I threw a bunch more during my testing with multiple sensors unplugged. Have tried cranking numerous times to try and see if it throws another code, but it hasn't yet.



I did adjust the valves at 100k, was extra careful with the three injector plugs and rechecked (though without removing valve cover) that the plugs looked correct.



So I'm at a loss what to check next.



Any suggestions on what I should be checking next? Or in it's current state, do you think a dealer would actually be a benefit besides making my pocket empty?



P. S.

Hate joining a forum with a big question to be asked in first post, so do want to extend a really big THANKS for any help I get.

 

[cerberusiam]

As much as I hate to say it, from the looks of the video you have 1 or more bad injectors.



If that smoke and roughness never clears as you rev the engine that a pretty good indication an injector is either hung open or a tip cracked.



It would help to know what the specs on your truck are. Go to the Discussion Forums menu item at the top of the page then go to User Control Panel, then click on Edit Signature and you can put the truck info in there so it will show on your posts.

 

[kohldad]

Put the info in the sig but only after I had started the post. Should show up in this post.



The engine will not rev at all. It actually bogs down when you try to rev it.



If it is the injectors, it will definitely be more than one.

 

[JLandry]

Why don't you replace the CMP outright to positively eliminate it as the culprit? If that doesn't cure the problem, at least you'll have a spare.



Best regards,



John L.

 

[kohldad]

Forgot to mention I already had a spare CMP and changed it out as part of the testing.

 

[kohldad]

Can't believe it took me so long to find my simple problem from me being so dumb.



Turns out I put 30 gallons of gas in the tank that had only 10 gals of diesel. So I'm amazed I made it the 135 miles before I started having problems.



In the process now of draining the gas and refilling with diesel. Hopefully, I didn't do any damage to any of the injectors.



Besides draining the tank and filters, is there anything I should do?

 

[moparme]

Pray if you haven't already

 

[JLandry]

Turns out I put 30 gallons of gas in the tank that had only 10 gals of diesel. So I'm amazed I made it the 135 miles before I started having problems.

Sorry to hear that.



I've never heard of someone driving a diesel truck that far on a 75% gasoline mix. Whatever has been affected, it can't be good.



Please let us know how things turn out.



Good luck,



John L.

 

[TCDiesel]

The last time I handle the repair on gas more then 50% when driven over 50 miles eventually required New pump and injectors. You need to at-least have the Pump check out by an expert... and I mean someone who knows what to look for. Not some shop or drive thru service center. If the pump has wear replace both injectors and pump,BC some time in the near future it will suck up your wallet anyways and fail in the most un-wanted time.

 

[HBarlow]

kohldad,

I hate to say it but I fear you have done major damage to your high pressure pump and injectors. If I were you I would begin shopping and comparing prices for a major purchase.

 

[SierraRam]

I can't believe it ran that long, you should have noticed the truck running bad in the first 15-20 miles.



Good luck, can't hurt to drain the system and put fresh diesel in to see what happens. I would definately add a good treatment with extra lubicosity. Let us know how things work out.

 

[kohldad]

I can't believe it ran that long, you should have noticed the truck running bad in the first 15-20 miles.

Besides being down just a little in power, it ran fine until the last few miles. I even made two stops along the highway, once shutting it down. I didn't have any problems merging back on the interstate or restarting. Just got on the interstate, set the cruise on 64 and only had to shift once on Saluda grade.



She is alive and running well. I'm sure I shortened the life of the injectors and injector pump, but no apparent damage from the short drive I did tonight.



Steps I did to recover:

1) Drained the tank (actually put the gas in my Grand Cherokee so didn't waste any) then put 12 gallons of diesel mixed with 3 quarts of non-detergent 30w oil.

2) changed the filters, purging the lines as I went by slightly pressurizing the tank.

3) used the lift pump to purge the gas from the filter housing and drained. Then installed the factory filter.

4) Cleaned the area around the FPC on the back, then removed. Cycled the lift pump with three long purges (bump the starter) til I could tell it was diesel coming out.

5) Resinstalled the FPC.

6) With the system all closed up, made the lift pump run three long cycles.

7) started the engine



Had figured it was going to take 5-10 minutes to burn the gas out of the pressure rail. Was shocked when after 5 seconds it started to smooth out and after 10 seconds was running like normal.



Took it for a 5 mile drive. Was real easy on it til it warmed up to normal temps, then stomped on it a few times. Besides a little heavy on smoke (where did those cars behind me go?), it seemed to have all it's normal power. I'll find out for sure when I head to Nashville soon.



Seems like I used up all my luck for the week.

 

[S.Morris]

If I was you , i'd be sourcing injectors now ...

 

[rbattelle]

Seems like this might be a good test. I'm curious to see whether it ever develops a major fuel system problem after this. Please keep us posted.

-Ryan

 

[nunya]

Great to hear ya got it up n runnin! Your Dad was too! He`s just hopin he doesn`t do the same thing between here n back home!

 

[kohldad]

Made it to Nashville in a near non-stop trip of 600 miles in 10 hours hualing a 2000# truck camper and towing a 1800# car trailer.



Running like a champ with no noticeable problems with power or performance.



Still need to get a replacement lift pump for the spare I keep under the back seat, but no plans to do any other repairs until problems arise.

 

[HBarlow]

The Cummins engine is known for it's toughness. You probably survived your mistake.

 

[kohldad]

Last planned update.



On the way home, the lift pump fuel pressure started declining. By the time I made it the 600 miles home, normal cruising pressure had fallen from 9psi to 4psi.



Stock filter looked fine when changed. However, a breath test on the 100 micron aftermarket filter revealed it was mostly clogged. Changed both filters and tested. Pressure is back to a normal 10psi while cruising. Thinking is the gas loosened some trash in the tank which clogged the small 100 micron filter.



Hand calc fuel mileage compared with past records indicates no degradation. I'm considering myself lucky and will not be taking additional prevention unless a problem arises.



Edit: Discovered that the pressure problem was a result of using a paper 100 micron filter. Turns out diesel and the paper isn't compatible. This cause the paper to quickly close and act as a clog. The usual 100 micron filter should be a mesh filter allowing maximum flow.